Sunday 8 March 2020

The Long-Tailed Tits' nest in the gorse bush is now visibly spherical, and the birds are beginning to go out of sight when they're inside. It should only be a couple of days before they complete the roof and disappear altogether. But I shall keep an eye on the nest and try to get video of any activity.


On the lawn below, two male Blackbirds walked warily around each other until finally one admitted defeat and flew off.


A female watched them from a twig.


A Dunnock perched in new leaves on a bush.


The gorse also attracted a Buff-Tailed Bumblebee.


There were too many people around the feeder, so the Great Spotted Woodpeckers stayed high in the trees. But here is a distant picture of a female in the woodland on the east side of the Long Water. There has been a pair here for several years.


There were still a few Redwings on the Parade Ground. A couple of them were on the newly laid turf, but mostly they preferred the little triangle of bare earth to the east.


A Pied Wagtail was content to stay on the grass. They eat mostly insects and there are plenty of these in the new turf. I have occasionally seen a Pied Wagtail take a small worm.


A pair of Goldcrests flitted around in the twigs at the southeast corner of the bridge. They can be seen on either side of the bridge.


It started raining at lunchtime. A Carrion Crow cawed loudly on a noticeboard.


The pair of Lesser Black-Backed Gulls were back on the ruined swan island in the Long Water. In this picture they both look very light coloured -- it's a matter of the angle of the light. But it's the one on the right that is so pale that I think it may be a Herring Gull hybrid.


A Cormorant took off from the Italian Garden ...


... and the female of the hopeless pair preened on the balustrade.


A pair of Great Crested Grebes displayed next to the Coots' nest in the willow near the bridge ...


... which they would like to steal. A Coot nest is a bonus for grebes as they are so bad at making their own.


Two Gadwalls browsed side by side on the Serpentine.


Just in from Mark Williams: there is a new Black Swan family in St James's Park.

2 comments:

  1. Dead from cuteness, I am. Nearly squeeing with the new Black Cygnets.

    It's incredible that such a tiny little bird should be able to build such a prodigious nest. Their poor tails must take the brunt from the activity of building though.

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    1. Long-Tailed Tits' tails do get frayed by nesting and you can see this until the feathers are replaced at the next moult. The nest is elastic and stretches as the chicks grow, but it's still always a tight fit for an adult.

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